BOBCATS BY THE NUMBERS: Only 26 Days Until Kickoff!
8/9/2021 5:30:00 PM | Football
A look at the number 26 in Bobcat football history...
Bobcats by the Numbers takes a look at current and past Bobcats whose jersey numbers correspond to the number of days remaining before Montana State opens the 2021 football season at Wyoming on September 4.
#26
Rylan Ortt, DB: Readers of BBTN for any length of time know of our strong affection for Bobcats who travel three hours east on I-90 to don the Blue and Gold. Rylan Ortt is one such player, and he enters 2021 with the strong possibility of playing time in his first varsity season. A Missoula Sentinel grad, Ortt captured 2019 Gatorade Montana Boys' Track and Field Athlete of the Year as a javelin thrower, logging the sixth-best prep mark in the nation that year. In the fall of 2018, Ortt threw for 2,097 yards and 18 touchdowns while running for 750 yards for the Spartans. He slots in as a safety at MSU, and when he has impressed in every opportunity.
Spotlight – Arnold Briggs: In most cases, to be a successful college football player you really have to love football. You have to want to play. You have to really want to play. Arnold Briggs' start-and-stop Bobcat career is a testimony to that. Briggs signed with the Cats in February 2005, but the beginning of his career was delayed until January 2006 due to medical concerns, and he redshirted the succeeding fall. He played in 10 games as a redshirt freshman reserve cornerback in 2007, but moved to safety in the spring. He missed the first game, but once he entered the lineup he was off and running. He logged 54 tackles and intercepted two passes, and appeared to be a three-year fixture in the secondary. And then, just before the 2009 season, he tore his ACL and missed his entire junior campaign. There were probably moments when Briggs wondered if it was all worthwhile, but you never would have known it because of his ever-present smile and irrepressible joy. It doesn't always happen like this, but when it does it's awesome. Briggs' patience, his desire, his refusal to be denied, was rewarded in 2010. Called 'Gramps' by his teammates as a nod to his age – he was 23 by then – and seniority, Briggs was the glue of a talented secondary and logged 35 tackles, six pass breakups, two interceptions, a fumble recovered, and one forced. He was part of Montana State's first Big Sky title since 2005.
Chronology: Norbert Grossman (1926), Pete Vavich (1934), Ernest Douglas (1937), James Krall (1940), Francis Ramstadt (1941), Gene Miles (1946-47), Jack Cohn (1948-50), Ray Schoessle (1953-54), Bob Peres (1955), Dick Cope (1956), John Kinna (1982-84), Tyler Huber (1985), Bob Long (1986-88), Shadrick Cole (1990-91), Walter Sampson (1992), Dylan Tripp (1994-95), Damon McNeal (1996-00), Garth French (2001), Demond Goins (2002-04), Arnold Briggs (2006-10), James Nelson (2011-13), Tre'von Strong (2015), Anthony Pegues (2016-17), Shawn Borges (2018), Rylan Ortt (2019-).
#26
Rylan Ortt, DB: Readers of BBTN for any length of time know of our strong affection for Bobcats who travel three hours east on I-90 to don the Blue and Gold. Rylan Ortt is one such player, and he enters 2021 with the strong possibility of playing time in his first varsity season. A Missoula Sentinel grad, Ortt captured 2019 Gatorade Montana Boys' Track and Field Athlete of the Year as a javelin thrower, logging the sixth-best prep mark in the nation that year. In the fall of 2018, Ortt threw for 2,097 yards and 18 touchdowns while running for 750 yards for the Spartans. He slots in as a safety at MSU, and when he has impressed in every opportunity.
Spotlight – Arnold Briggs: In most cases, to be a successful college football player you really have to love football. You have to want to play. You have to really want to play. Arnold Briggs' start-and-stop Bobcat career is a testimony to that. Briggs signed with the Cats in February 2005, but the beginning of his career was delayed until January 2006 due to medical concerns, and he redshirted the succeeding fall. He played in 10 games as a redshirt freshman reserve cornerback in 2007, but moved to safety in the spring. He missed the first game, but once he entered the lineup he was off and running. He logged 54 tackles and intercepted two passes, and appeared to be a three-year fixture in the secondary. And then, just before the 2009 season, he tore his ACL and missed his entire junior campaign. There were probably moments when Briggs wondered if it was all worthwhile, but you never would have known it because of his ever-present smile and irrepressible joy. It doesn't always happen like this, but when it does it's awesome. Briggs' patience, his desire, his refusal to be denied, was rewarded in 2010. Called 'Gramps' by his teammates as a nod to his age – he was 23 by then – and seniority, Briggs was the glue of a talented secondary and logged 35 tackles, six pass breakups, two interceptions, a fumble recovered, and one forced. He was part of Montana State's first Big Sky title since 2005.
Chronology: Norbert Grossman (1926), Pete Vavich (1934), Ernest Douglas (1937), James Krall (1940), Francis Ramstadt (1941), Gene Miles (1946-47), Jack Cohn (1948-50), Ray Schoessle (1953-54), Bob Peres (1955), Dick Cope (1956), John Kinna (1982-84), Tyler Huber (1985), Bob Long (1986-88), Shadrick Cole (1990-91), Walter Sampson (1992), Dylan Tripp (1994-95), Damon McNeal (1996-00), Garth French (2001), Demond Goins (2002-04), Arnold Briggs (2006-10), James Nelson (2011-13), Tre'von Strong (2015), Anthony Pegues (2016-17), Shawn Borges (2018), Rylan Ortt (2019-).
Players Mentioned
DB
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